I think he's ranged from solid to very good in '21-spring '23, I think the past 9 months have been largely meh, at least for his standards. But yeah, I thought he and the rest of MMA were largely very good at the WC until they tired out, McKennie was a bit more erratic recovering from that injury, but he still found the time to be within an inch or two of assisting on a 2nd goal against Iran, scoring on England, and actually having the hockey assist on the beautiful ball Dest redirected to Pulisic for the winner vs Iran.
For me his club season represented a step forward. He played more matches (40) for a bigger club. The coach put him in the starting lineup for some of their biggest matches. Even with some very good alternatives available. For country he showed utility as a 6 in addition to his usual role as an 8. I see a glass that's more than half full. He was a better player for Milan this past season than he was for Valencia the prior season.
I think the this was a season of growth, even if that growth wasn’t always evident. Pioli trusted Musah, and yes, sometimes that looked like misplaced trust - I have myself penciled in above Musah on our RB depth chart - but overall Musah was fortunate to have a professor like Pioli as his manager, not a screamer/motivator. I’m sure Musah learned a lot about tactics and positional play. He has room for growth, but he’s still growing.
per fbref: McKennie per 90 pass attempts short 19/medium15/long5 85/76/70% completion rate Johnny per 90 pass attempts short22/medium 16/long 3 88/88/68 looking at heat maps for the 2 players you may notice that McK's passing is mainly from the touch line whereas Johnny passes in heavy traffic areas. In the back he is equally left and right side and in attack he slides slightly to the left. Johnny stats and ratings | Sofascore Weston McKennie stats and ratings | Sofascore
I don't think of Adams as DM that unlocks the opponent with the pass either... his quick transition passing is pretty good but not excellent. Musah is obviously better with the ball at his feet WRT the dribble so he brings a little something there at DM and his speed/toughness is good... So if we just need at DM that creates havoc, retains possession and supports then Musah can fill that role well IMO. Just don't ask him to make a Hollywood Pass to break the lines. AAR, I feel pretty good about Adams, Johnny and Musah as our DM top 3.
Well, Wes mainly played on the flank, so most of his passes will come from there. He had some very nice assists this season but had poor finishing where he is usually better then he showed this year. He also took nearly all of Juve's throw-ins in and around the box. His work rate and physical presence plus positional flexibility make him the superior player despite the stats you quoted. Having said that will not be surprised to see him moved on with Motta supposedly coming in IF they get a good offer.
That's an angle, I just get the sense that he didn't do much w/the minutes, and in general was viewed as meh in terms of quality of performances. I will say I was paying far more attention to Pulisic in their games, but that's the sense I got. I hope you are right rather than me, regardless, next season will be big for him.
i think sometimes we overlook that a player hasnt improved his passing ability from ages 18-21, which is when a ton of development/improvement usually happens.
He was played by Allegri to emphasize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Essentially a formation published is usually defensive so Wes was listed as cmid and used as an orange cone above the penalty box on the right with 3 cb's behind him and cambiaso as the rb (weah dealing with muscle issue). Juve would then build left on possession to give Wes a clear field on the right (Allegri has said Wes is really good in a clear field) and the capacity to put in crosses (to Vlahovic/Milik) while minimizing his inability to progress the ball in crowded areas. That gives Chiesa the most chances to do his stuff from the left wing with Rabiot doing the cmid stuff. In that scheme, Cambiaso comes inside a lot to pick up the backdoor cmid duties from his fb position (as Wes drifts to the outside in the attack), and Locatelli drifts to Chiesa's side in support as dmid. It was hoped that Wes could play mezzala role where he'd be in and around the pen box more but that has had mixed results and is the main reason I think Allegri intended to sell him. We don't know how he will be used next year or if he will be sold at this stage since Allegri got fired and a new coach will have his say. ps edit: The orange cone strategy with 3 cb's behind and cambiaso as rb worked a lot better for Allegri v Atalanta than whatever Alonso came up with to stop Lookman in Europa League final when Lookman scored a hat trick.
Musah has not improved this season, arguably he did worse as his numbers on a better team in a worse league are slightly worse than last season. Wes’s actual best season was probably his season under Pirlo, where he defended in CM in a 442 that shifted into a 3 ATB in possession. He moved out and wide in midfield in buildup, and then advanced up that half space to around the corner of the box, where he would combine with the WB or crash. I think he has improved as a player but Juve are not playing as well.
Musah is still also only 21. People make allowances for Reyna's age and that he's still growing as a player. Musah can be the same.
Gio’s average performance level per minute over 5k top 4 and CL+EL minutes has been quite good. He has done it, already. He plays at a top 20 BL level attacker level. Someone who has done it over 2 seasons worth of minutes is different than someone who has never been an above avg player at that level. Then you can dole out your allowances.
Jesus, what's going on with these boards. Everyone is so touchy. All I'm saying is Yunus Musah is only 21. He's Olympics-eligible. He's younger than Tanner Tessmann by more than a full calendar year. He's younger than Taylor Booth and Griffin Yow and all of these players that people are saying are "breaking onto the scene." For heaven's sake.
A CM role in a single-pivot 433 plays to Musah's strengths while masking his weaknesses. The other 8, typically McKennie, can handle the attacking chores. The 6 can handle the firefighting in front of the backline. Musah is not a good reader of the game but does excel at possessing the ball.
I think it's more connected to what you've seen in both cases. In Reyna's case we've seen him be highly productive against the very best in the game at the CL level and in the Bundesliga as a teenager in '20-'21 and w/the senior team since '21 when healthy. He's shown the capacity to be a kid that can direct an attack, finish chances, everything, it's just injuries. In Musah's case Valencia and now Milan have just never seen anything like an ability to finish chances, and provide any kind of playmaking element around the box. He doesn't make final passes, or finish chances much at all. At times I have wondered if I'm wrong because I've seen some truly beautiful shots glance off crossbars, and be spectacularly saved multiple times. Otoh, we've been watching his play in Europe at this point for four or five seasons worth of sample size and at some point, if it was randomness, goals would go in, assists would assist and none of that happens or has happened. It's still just a big zero in terms of around the box contributions. So for me, Musah has at bare minimum tremendous ability to be LDLT Plus, in that not only can he carry the ball like LDLT, and provide the transition from defense to attack, but he's ridiculously press resistance and can throw guys off of him pretty easily. Can he do more than that? I haven't seen it, not yet, I mean, I can cosign that he can defend pretty well too, can he 6? I think he's a better option as a 6 than other guys probably because the net loss of offensive value (in Musah's case, his transition game) for a pure defensive 6 with no offensive skill set period, like the Heidenheim dude is probably too much for me. I'm open to the idea I could be wrong though.
Musah doesn't have a bunch of adolescent kids promoting him on the interwebz while screeching at Berhalter like Reyna does. He does boring things like...play for his team.
With Musah, going to a top team and establishing himself as a regular was a success.But his lack of improvement in basic g+a numbers has reached the point of frustration. That said, his one superlative is something we will need this summer, especially without Dest.
I saw Musah at the World Cup. I saw him at that level. He'll be fine. He's 21 and appeared in 40 games (2200 minutes) for AC freakin' Milan this season. Not the Charleston Battery. AC Milan. Guys have nondescript seasons sometimes for a myriad of reasons. Dest last year. We could give a million examples. Then they figure some things out, learn some lessons, maybe find a better role or opportunity, and become more impactful. Musah will have a new coach and a clean slate next year. And if he slides backwards? Then the midfield depth of the USMNT is building. We're gonna see more of Johnny this summer. Tessmann keeps improving. We have such midfield depth with the U23s that good players/prospects aren't going to make it. Or if Musah is converted to a right back? We need more of them too.
You're being too generic here. Do you watch him at Milan or just go to his Wiki page and see AC Milan, woohoo? Yes he's young and not near his prime yet. But 19-22 yr olds who play a good amount of mins also are in that window where you see improvements on various facets of their game. It is completely accurate to point out both observations, that Musah is young and also failed to show tangible improvement in and around the final 3rd, with his passing, threat on the dribble, goal scoring, etc. Bigger picture concern is Musah tends to float between not being an attacking 8 and not being a defensive mid. He's phenomenal on the turn but lacks a clear identity as to what he's gonna be. And that has led him to not be in Milans XI more often than not and to not be a first choice mid in our recent NT camp. A good word for the day would be trajectory. Or perhaps momentum. Musah can still be great but there is a little warning to his trajectory and his career has lost some of that upward momentum.
First, look at the sustained performance level a player has established. Once that sample gets large enough that’s who the player is. Then one can look at age and inherent and learned attributes to see what capacity a player has for growth and in what areas. As players mature they tend to take on fewer players on the dribble and they tend to pass better. However I think on the individual level the truth is that dribblers who don’t learn to pass just start to play less. Musah does not need to become a major end product provider, I think that’s fairly unlikely anyway. He needs to become a better decision maker and passer. That will determine if he goes from athletic prospect who can be plugged into a lot of spots (for a team without a lot of quality depth) to an actual dependable starter. I really can’t think of a player who showed little capacity for end product who then became dangerous as an adult. Usually it’s player is more dangerous than their peers -> struggles against adults -> adapts and becomes productive. That’s on the positive side of the outcome distribution. A lot of times guys don’t adapt and have to learn how to play more two-way roles as adults. If Yunus just became more of a tempo setter and hit more field spreading passes that would be very useful for us. A better sense for when to release the ball after a dribble or when to go for it would also raise his game. Defensively his sense for 6 play has to improve. Reading when to step, when to drop in as cover, reading passing lanes, and getting a bit more proactive in the challenge would be very beneficial. As a 6 he needs to be in the right spot more often and he needs to make more plays. He needs to make it harder for the other team. He has to do most of one of those things to stick and grow. If he does both he fulfills his promise. I don’t see him turning into Iniesta or even Wijnaldum offensively but close to Kovacic or Dembele is possible, just based on his underlying numbers he is close. However they had all those passing and decision making attributes Yunus needs to work on.